As a striker, Harry Kane ­understands the importance of taking chances – and he knows Tottenham missed a glorious one against Burnley .

Spurs had a great opportunity to crank up the pressure on Manchester City and Liverpool in the title race and they fluffed it.

Everything was set up for the ­visitors. They were full of confidence, were coming off a 10-day break and talisman Kane was back after missing six weeks with an ankle injury.

Yet when he cancelled out Chris Wood’s opener with his 21st goal of the season with nearly half an hour remaining, they could not push on.

Kane had his say on the title race (Image: REUTERS)

Instead Burnley finished the stronger and grabbed a late winner through Ashley Barnes to severely damage Tottenham’s title hopes.

“We’re disappointed because it’s a game we feel we should be winning, especially ­because we had a nice little break as well over the last 10 days or so, we were fresh,” said Kane.

“We got back into the game at 1-1, but just didn’t have another level to go up. It was a great chance to get another three points and get that little bit closer.

“It’s a shame because when we needed to find another level, ­another gear, we didn’t have it in the locker.

Kane missed a good chance late on (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The England striker was making his first appearance for six weeks (Image: EMPICS SPORT)

“We’ve a tough week coming up, so we have to dust it off and be ready for that. But yeah, it was a big opportunity for us and it’s a shame we couldn’t take it.”

Kane knows Spurs will be written off, but their title hopes have been ­dismissed several times this season.

On each occasion they have ­recovered, winning five times after their previous six league defeats, and that is the challenge ­facing them at Chelsea on ­Wednesday.

“It’s been like that for the whole season,” said the ­Tottenham and England captain.

Kane steered in Tottenham's equaliser (Image: REUTERS)

“People have been talking about us not being in it, then we would win a few games and we’d be there.

“People will probably say now it’s a two-horse race, but that’s not our problem. All we can do is take care of ourselves.”

Any criticism of Spurs must be set against the financial reality at the club. While City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea splashed out ­hundreds of millions in the last two transfer windows, Tottenham made £11million more than they spent.

It is a huge achievement for them to be as close as they are to City and ­Liverpool given this most uneven of playing fields.

Klopp and Guardiola's Liverpool and Man City sides are the title race front runners (Image: Action Images via Reuters)

Despite having next to nothing to spend, Pochettino is on course for a fourth successive top-three finish, a level of consistency not even City can match.

Their continued development is wholly down to the Argentinian, who is delivering the best value for money of any of the big-six managers.

Spurs have also had the upheaval of playing at Wembley.

Kane added: “We don’t like to make excuses, but at the end of the day we’ve been playing away from home for the last two years. We’ve had a tough time. But we’re in the hunt for the Premier League, we’re still in the Champions League, we’re in a good place.”